Mystery of the Fullbringer: Tephra Rain
Part 1 , , Fujimoto Residence, late afternoon. It had been roughly two weeks since Masato Fujiwara and Kumiko Fujimoto had been rescued from the by the mysterious group of Fullbringers called Xodus. Despite their knowledge of and , they had been caught unawares to a number of their own kind invading the Seireitei to save them, then only to disappear with only a few sheets of copy paper and an odd card to remember them by. Both Kumiko and Masato spent the two weeks they had recovering from their fatigue and injuries thinking about why Xodus saved them and how they even knew of their existence before actually meeting them, the two of them each taking turns trying to figure out what the odd calling card they got given was, however despite their guessing, the only things the two had managed to find out in the midst of their confusion and recovery was that of Arthur's leaving line about when the rain falls and that the card seemed to be quite strong and resilient. in the main room of the Fujimoto Residence, Masato was sitting on the couch, having been left to look after the house as well as the card while Kumiko was out of town, doing shopping in Naruki City on the behalf of Masato's injuries. The male Fullbringer sighed slightly, hid usual positive mood dampened by his injuries and their lack of knowledge on what was going on, however, taking out his Fullbringer Focus from a nearby sports bag, he grinned to himself briefly before stretching and getting up. "Ah, what's the point of worrying, we could be doing worse.", he said to himself optimistically, putting the card carefully in the pocket of his grey combat trousers and placing the belt that was his focus back in the bag before turning his head in thought, finally Masato shrugged and picked up the sports bag, lugging it over his shoulder while getting out his pair of keys to the house. "I'm sure Kumiko wouldn't mind it if I got some fresh air, forecast said it would be nice out anyway, so I can't just pass up not going out.", Masato bargained with his thoughts, passing his coat, not feeling a need to wear it as he stepped out the house, locking the door behind him. On the opposite side of the street sat a small blue and white van, a middle aged man sitting at the wheel, his hands propped over it and his head lurched forward and turned to the side looking out of the doorway of the passenger side window. Though looked to be observing Masato at a glance, his eyes had actually been focused on the events occuring at the house next to him. Fiona Archer, clad in the blue overalls that constituted her work uniform had rapped her knuckles across a fine wooden door three times to a habitual rhythym that she had grown into over the years. After a minute of waiting, the door opened inward and a young man emerged from the shadow of the doorway. "Yamata deliveries, I have a package here for a Mr. Asano", she spoke, the words were Japanese and they came out correctly but the manner in which they had been spoken were somewhat mechanical and stilted, to anyone who knew the language naturally or fluently, it was clear she was still learning. It wasn't a stretch to say those lines were some of her most practiced. As she had spoken she drew a large parcel away from under her arm, it was impossible to tell what was inside, as the package was tightly encased in bland brown packaging with its notable detail scrawled on a piece of paper strapped down by tape and covered in illegible hand writing. "Ah, great, I was starting to go crazy waiting for this thing!", the man replied as the item exchanged hands between parties. "Take care now!", Fiona stated as she turned away to the sound of a closing door and the common statement of "Thank you very much!". She spotted Masato and with a deft motion of her hand drew down the blue hat she had adorned on her head. The peak came down to cast a shadow over her face whilst also obscuring it largely from view. It was hard to think anything of such a motion though, a lot of folks did that as a form of greeting. With that out of the way, the girl was in motion, red locks swaying behind her as she latched onto the truck across the road. Her foot on the skirt railing and her hand on a grip on the roof. There was muffled chatter coming from her and the vehicle's driver, drowned out by the engine roaring - or guzzling - its way into gear and off down the street. Masato took little notice of the truck as it drove past, merely viewing it as a normal occurrence in this part of the town as he made his way toward the bus stop near the end of his street, knowing that the bus to the shopping district usually arrived at around this time. Getting to the stop, Masato checked the board, noticing that the bus wasn't to arrive for another 5 or so minutes, he stood beside the stop, waiting for it, pulling out the card as he did so, tapping it once on the metal framework next to him, only for the card to bounce off it instead of crumpling slightly. "Maybe it's a tracking device or something, like out of a cheesy movie.", Masato mused as he fumbled around aimlessly, sliding the card once again into his pocket. When the bus finally arrived, Masato got on it, buying a thankfully cheap ticket for the short trip to the shopping district, sitting himself on one of the middle seats next to the window. Minutes passed as the bus finally got into the shopping district, Masato walking off and heading for a nearby electronics store, casually scanning the new phone products that were the big thing as of current, however, before he could do so much as to head for the door, the Fullbringer heard the cry of a creature only he could hear, spinning round, he saw a Hollow on one of the rooftops nearby, seemingly in some sort of search for prey. Masato, shaking off his shock started running towards the Hollow's location taking out his Obi as he ditched his empty sports bag in an alley and used Bringer Light to leap up to where the Hollow was, his Reiatsu Judogi already formed on his body. "You just had to show up didn't you, I actually wanted to buy something before Kumiko got back.", Masato angrily stated, more to himself than the Hollow as he cracked his neck. The Hollow wasn't anything special, looking insect like and as large as any normal Hollow, it took a moment to notice the Fullbringer's spiritual pressure before roaring and charging at him. Masato, ready to counter this simple charge, shot to the side with his bringer light and "grabbed" the Hollow's Reiatsu, chucking it upward as he attempted to form a Reiatsu weapon to finish it off, however instead of the black blade he was used to seeing forming, one of the steam vents on the roofs came off abruptly and violently, causing Masato to look in shock. "The hell? My Fullbring doesn't do that.", Masato thought, however as he did the Hollow had recovered and landed heavily on the roof, throwing the Fullbringer back and causing the vent to fall back as lifeless as ever. The Hollow, unaware of Masato's confusion, continued it's assault on him, mindless as ever, simply speeding as him as Masato responded, jumping in the air while also grabbing the Hollow, however to Masato's surprise the feel of gripping the Hollow's Reiatsu felt different, not like he was grappling at the outward energy of the beast, but feeling that he was actually grasping the deepest part of the Hollow, however despite his uneasiness the Fullbringer swung his arm, thus causing the Hollow to uncontrollably slide and slam directly into the next building, the force of the throw actually making a hole into the building and obliterating the Hollow's head, causing it to disintegrate. "What...the hell is up with my Fullbring?", Masato asked himself, he looked at his hand and pondered on what that new sensation was, however his senses were brought back to him as he looked upon the damage he caused. "Uh oh, I better get going.", he said anxiously, disappearing with a green flicker of Bringer Light before people spotted him, the Fullbringer speeding back to the Fujimoto Residence in the hopes Kumiko wasn't back yet. The Fullbringer arrived at the Fujimoto Residence silently, his Obi in his hand and a scared look on his face, he opened the door and walked into the main room, finding Kumiko sitting on the couch with an annoyed look on her face. "I thought I said for you to look after the house.", she said to Masato, glaring at him as he recoiled and laughed nervously. "Heheheh, well I was just going out to get some fresh air, you see.", Masato nervously replied, despite the fact that he was telling the truth he didn't want to make Kumiko angrier than she probably already was, "You know, so I could maybe figure something about the card that those Xodus guys gave us, but I ran into a Hollow, so I had to deal with it.", he explained relaxing slightly as he finished his expiation to Kumiko, who sighed before standing up. "Fine, just don't do something like that again.", she replied as she walked towards Masato, "So, did you find anything out?", she asked, looking at Masato curiously, who pulled out the card and gave it to her. "No, I was attacked by that Hollow, so I didn't get time to think.", Masato said, scratching his head and smiling as he did so, however his smile faded as he recalled what had happened afterwards. "Actually, something else happened as well, something odd happened with my powers.", Masato said, causing Kumiko to turn her attention from the card to Masato. "What do you mean Masato? Have they changed?", she asked, one of her eyes cocked in interest as her partner began to explain his situation. "Well, when I was fighting the Hollow, I tried to summon a Reiatsu weapon to finish it off, but instead I managed to somehow pull a vent off it's hinges by accident, and then when I threw the Hollow again, it felt weird, as if I was reaching into it somehow, and not grabbing it's Reiatsu.", Masato explained, causing Kumiko to hang her head low, deep in thought. "I would say your Fullbring is evolving but I thought you had achieved mastery over your Fullbring already.", she wondered, Masato nodding in agreement, before suddenly becoming rigid, making Kumiko raise her head in confusion. "What, you got an idea?", she asked. "Yeah, maybe that Xodus group know what's happening to my powers.", he explained joyfully, however Kumiko instead looked at the card solemnly. "Yeah but how do we get to them, this card might help us, but how?", she said to herself, just as she did, the first drops of rain fell as it started to pour down, Masato, taking his attention from their current situation looked at the now dark sky. "Wait a sec, wasn't it supposed to be clear today?", he asked Kumiko in confusion, who rubbed her eyes in annoyance. "Don't you listen to the forecast properly you dolt? It said it was gonna start raining in the evening.", Kumiko explained, causing her partner to give a surprised "Oh", which made her even more annoyed, however as she did so something clicked. "Wait, maybe that's what he meant.", she said in a surprised manner. "What are you going on about now Kumiko?", Masato asked, the young Fullbringer surprised at her sudden and confusing realization. "That guy who gave us the card said something about it being for when the rain falls right?", she said to Masato, who gave a semi confident nod. "Yeah, but I don't get why he would actually mean the rain, I thought he meant maybe for when something bad happens.", Masato admitted, Kumiko shook her head as she motioned towards the door. "No, he might of meant actual rain, I'm not sure to be honest, but we have to try.", she said to Masato, who grinned as he followed her to the door, opening it and stepping out with her. "Haha, I guess you're right, nothing bad could happen could it", Masato stated jovially. The two of them stood out in the rain, the droplets of water coming down quicker and quicker as Kumiko held out the card to it, hoping that their guess was right. As the card met the water, the droplets landing on it solidly, the colours on the card started to smudge and become distorted, her eyes lighting up, Kumiko started rubbing away the watery ink, revealing a metal coating, revealing that the card was in fact metal. Completely washing away the facade that was the card's outer layer, Masato and Kumiko returned inside the house where they read what was on the card, it was mostly plain but it had an engraving on it, an address which had been carved into it. "The Shiro Apartment Complex.", Kumiko read out the main part of the etching, looking at Masato who was still reading the card, he straightened up as he turned to his partner also. "That's in one of the suburban districts of Karakura ain't it?", Masato said, Kumiko nodded as she pocketed the metallic card. "Yeah, it's in the Minamikawase district, but it's not too long of a journey on foot.", Kumiko confirmed, with that, Masato walked up and grabbed his coat, throwing it on quickly as he motioned himself towards the door again. "Well then, let's get going!", he said excitedly, his hand already going for the door handle as Kumiko merely looked bemused. "Now? Shouldn't we wait for tomorrow?", she asked. "Nah, it won't take long, plus we've been wanting to get to know more about those guys for a while now, so let's go!", Masato replied in a joyous manner, Kumiko sighed angrily as she approached him. "Oh fine! Let's go and get this sorted then.", she said, speeding out the door with Masato following suit. **** The Shiro Apartment Complex, Karakura Town, night. Masato and Kumiko arrived at the apartment complex, the moon was shining bright in the sky as the street lights flickered slightly, the rain had since stopped as the two Fullbringers approached the entrance of the building, walking into the main room as they observed their surroundings. "I'm guessing no one's gonna be greeting us.", Masato said, looking at the empty receptionist desk before turning back to Kumiko, who had been walking towards the elevator. "The card didn't say anything about any particular room, maybe they rented the whole place out?", the female Fullbringer wondered. "You think? Would those guys have that much money?", Masato asked, skeptical of the group that they were trying to find being so rich as to fully rent out an apartment complex. Kumiko merely responded by walking towards the elevator, the doors sliding open as she beckoned Masato over. "Only one way to find out, if they have rented this whole place out, they probably use the uppermost apartments as the main living space I guess, so let's look there first.", she said. The two of them walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the upper floors, the elevator whirring into life as it started moving them up the four-story building. Soon enough, the elevator came to a halt as Masato and Kumiko got out at the upper floors, a relatively large corridor was presented to them, with a number of doors going down it. It was relatively empty. A clean swept passage lined by a clean white wall on the left side and a half wall on the right, a soft breeze filled the place through the opening that peered over a crisp view of the stylized garden down below. Doorways lined the left wall, each of them different from each other though they lacked the typical stylings of a "main" door to a household. No mailbox, no number or nameplate. Behind the pair, one such door had opened. With a clack of the metal as the handle came downward. Stepping into the open air was Ewan Dineen, dressed up in his frilly adornments of dress shirts and way-too-expensive jeans. A hand swept his golden locks from his shoulder as he came to observe the two visitors. "My, my, it seems we have a pair of uninvited guests", he spoke with an accent, one born in the alleys of and the words were similarly delivered. In English rather than Japanese. Kumiko and Masato stood slightly bewildered at the man's presence, they recognised him from back where they were saved in the Soul Society, but they ran a blank on what he said, the Fullbringer's accent confusing them as they couldn't place together the words of someone who spoke fluent English. Both Masato and Kumiko looked at each other before speaking back to Ewan. "Um, sorry, we can't understand what you just said.", Kumiko replied back to Ewan, hoping that he could pick up on their slack and speak Japanese, Masato cleared his throat after his partner spoke up. "We are not good at speaking English see.", Masato added, laughing as he used his knowledge from his English lessons at college to the best of his ability, however it came out very awkwardly and sounded broken in comparison to Ewan's words, "You speak Japanese?", Masato finished, Kumiko turned to Masato, a bemused look on her face as she began to try and speak to him, however she reminded herself of the person who was in front of them. "Ever the little plebians you lot are", Ewan disparaged those he spoke to, chuckling rather snidely after their request. Though he had indulged them on that front. It would have been poor rapport to continue speaking his tongue when those present were so bad at it. So he'd stoop to their level. His accent faded significantly and he spoke Japanese with a deftness one would not expect of someone so belittling to its natives. "I'll assume you're here for Arthur, if so you'll find him in the last room at the end of this hall", he directed them though his tone of derision never left. "And, please, don't make tracks, its bad enough that we have to deal with your stench" His last cruel remark made, the man returned to the shadows of the doorway and disappeared behind the redwood door with a delicate clasp as it quietly closed. Kumiko stood mildly shocked as she watched the man disappear as soon as he arrived, unable to retort to his derogatory remark due to the abruptness of it, Masato however, started making his way down the corridor, to which his partner ran up to him, stopping the Fullbringer by grabbing his shoulder. "Oi, what the hell was that!?", Kumiko shouted, her anger rising as she tried to process what just happened step by step, however Masato merely turned around, seemingly oblivious to her rage over the situation. "Hmm, what do you mean?", he asked, blinking in an attempt to feign innocence, however all it did was make Kumiko's rage more pronounced. "What do you think! Its bad enough we have to deal with your stench, what the hell was that about, all we did was apologise and ask him if he spoke Japanese!", she cried out, to which Masato merely waved idly as he turned back around. "Maybe he was talking about me or something, I doubt I have the most pleasant body odor.", Masato joked, laughing as he walked down the corridor, Kumiko still fuming at his heels. "You know what he meant by that! Gah he's dead the next time I see him.", Kumiko raged, however Masato stopped, causing the female Fullbringer to be silenced, bumping into her partner as she stopped ranting. "Just forget about it Kumiko, we probably won't see him much after this, so don't blow a fuse over it, right?", he said, his jovial tone sounding slightly downtrodden as he continued walking towards the room that Ewan directed to them, Kumiko, taken aback by Masato's change in tone, followed him quietly as he knocked on the door of the last room, waiting for a response. "Its open!", they were met with a rather hushed response a moment later. Loud enough to be heard but not obviously so. The door opened into what one could only suggest to be a games room. Dart boards on the walls, snooker and foosball tables placed about and a full on lounge in the corner, a bookcase resting on the wall not far away for the more literary pursuits. Arthur was lying on one of the brown upholstered couches, with a clack of the snooker balls, Maeve O'Bannon revealed her presence too, working on a solo game. Masato's eyes momentarily lit up before he closed them, reminding himself of his real mission, walking into the room with Kumiko following suit. "Hey, we figured out the secret about that card, although you probably know that already.", Masato said, Kumiko pulled out the card and extended it out to Arthur while Masato kept talking. "Anyway, we was wondering if you could help us, if you would?", Masato asked, Kumiko stepped forward and took over for her partner. "We want to know more about Fullbringers in general, and well, Masato's powers seem to be acting weird, we was wondering if you knew anything about it.", Kumiko finished, looking at Arthur, half anxious to hear his reply. Arthur looked them over with a look of disinterest, not helped by the fact that his eye appeared to be half lidded like he could nod off to sleep at just about any moment. His other was forcefully closed by his hand, his head propped up against it whilst it pushed into his cheek. "I think I know the problem", he responded after some thought. "You wanna take this one Maeve?", he threw the question into the air as he turned himself over, putting his back onto the couch before stretching his arms and legs. "Hm?", her ears perked up at the calling of her name just over the clack of the last of the current set of balls rolling into their pocket. She spent a moment herself looking over the newcomers, she hadn't seen either of their abilities, in fact she wasn't anywhere near them during the rescue, too busy serving as a distraction for the Shinigami rank-and-file. "Yeah, I'll take care of it", she stated finally tossing the snooker cue onto the table as she moved away from it. She approached, and then passed, the pair before ushering them back into the hallway. "C'mon, its best if we do this in the garden", she told them and like that she was on her way to the elevator. Both Masato and Kumiko wore a confused look as the almost lazily casual exchange took place, their eyes following Maeve as she exited the room. Kumiko, turning back to Arthur, bowing slightly at the man, Masato reciprocated the gesture of thanks, but only with words. "Thank you.", he said before turning around and exiting the room with Kumiko, going into the hallway with Maeve, both of them wondering what kind of "garden" they would be going to that would serve as a good place for them to get help with Fullbringer powers. It was a quick transition from the top floors of the apartment to the garden, an idyllic square filled with stone planters lined with flowers in arrangements clearly done by a gifted gardener. They ended up passing that though in favour of the more open grass field that was situated beyond the garden, behind the apartment complex. "Alright, before anythin' else, I'm gonna need to find out a few things", Maeve started as she made some distance between herself and the younger Fullbringers, turning on her heel to face them. She pulled a medal out of her pocket and it quickly shifted into a four-limbed bow with a flash. "Lets start with your Fullbrings". The two Fullbringer's complied, Masato pulling out his Judo Obi that was partially in one of his coat pocked, folded carefully so that it could properly fit while Kumiko pulled back her sleeve to reveal her rosary bracelet, the two focuses shifted into their respective forms, Kumiko's becoming a large whip-like variation of her normal bracelet while Masato's belt fused to his right arm as a shroud of black and white Reiatsu covered him, taking the form of a Judogi. Masato breathed in deeply while activating his powers, afraid of something unexpected happening while it was forming, however his breathing returned to normal after he activated them without incident. "There, what should we do now?", Kumiko asked. "Fight", Maeve said with clarity and seriousness just as the rings on the end of each of her bow's limbs began to glow with a gold light. She raised it ahead of her and a series of projectiles began firing at both Fullbringers, equally divided as they swirled off from the bow towards either target. The two Fullbringers were expecting something along the lines of a fight but were still slightly surprised at the abruptness of Maeve's attack. Masato dove to the left, using Bringer Light to propel himself away from the arrows, however as he did so, the arrows suddenly swerved to his new position, homing in on him, Masato leaped upwards once again with Bringer Light, the arrows following him as he looked back to face them, know he wouldn't be able to destroy or outrun them all, Masato instead opted to try and defend against them instead, he held out his right arm, with his Reiatsu forming around it in the shape of a large, black, circular shield, however, despite the large shield blocking all of the arrows, the force that came with the explosions the arrows made caused Masato to hurtle down to the earth, only being able to stop a little of the momentum by using Bringer light and rolling as he landed, still going a fair distance after landing, smoke coming from the arm he used to defend the attacks, however apart from being rather winded from the force of the impact explosions and a few minor burns on his arms, Masato was relatively unharmed. Kumiko, being more prepared than her partner, managed to flawlessly dodge the arrows, however, like her partner, she too was shocked to see the arrows curve and once again home in on her. The female Fullbringer resorted to dodging the attacks with Bringer Light, observing them as she did so, after a fair number of passes, Kumiko realized that while the arrows were practically glued to her location, their tracking was only basic, usually taking the direct route to her. Knowing this, Kumiko stated leaping backwards constantly with Bringer Light, keeping at a constant distance with the arrows, she then threw her rosary whip into the arrows, the arrows managed to dodge the whips, however after numerous attempts the long arc of Kumiko's attack caught a bunch of them, causing them to explode, repeating the process a number of times to pick off the arrows Kumiko finally finished, turning to Maeve and rushing towards her at an incredibly fast speed, Masato, who had since recovered from the attack as well, reciprocated, heading in for a pincer attack. Maeve looked bored and unconcerned with their encroaching on her position. The distance they had generated with trying to avoid her arrows was simply too much to cover instantly and she needed very little time of her own to loose another volley. The miniscule time it took to process a thought more or less. A blitz of yellow light was cast upon the two younger Fullbringers in a flash. The arrows danced through the air, sectioning themselves into two groups of equal numbers and then diverged towards either target, just as the distance between them became clear, they immediately switched targets in a buzzing fury making it that much more difficult to discern just which arrows were targeting whom. they're durable enough Maeve thought though she was far from finished testing them. The upper and lower rings of her bow shifted from their place, rushing to the centre with a sound ringing out like a coin hitting the bottom of a slot machine, they then proceeded to shift to the left and right respectively. Kumiko, noting the new volley of arrows that had been released stopped her assault and instead targeted the attack, she was predominantly a fist fighter, getting up close and personal when fighting, and as a result the young Fullbringer found the ranged style of Maeve's Fullbring difficult to encounter. Instead of retreating like last time, Kumiko swung her whip, releasing a small section of her rosary at the cluster of arrows not unlike that of binding rope, the rosary beads acting as the rope's centrifugal force as it careened into the arrows, missing all of them due to the arrows once again swerving away from the attack, separating all the arrows aimed for Masato, leaving just the now vulnerable arrows open to attack. Kumiko started lashing out at the arrows constantly, managing to hold them off long enough to destroy most of them, only having one get too close to her, the resulting explosion flinging the Fullbringer backwards, thus ending her current assault. Masato kept charging upon seeing Maeve fire her new batch of arrows, opting to once again defend against them, figuring that he would be unable to combat the arrows in ranged combat effectively while also making it to Maeve herself, deciding on just toughing the arrows out. As the arrows aimed for him zoomed towards him, Masato once again prepped him arm for a Reiatsu shield to form, however, instead of his Reiatsu Weapon forming, Masato instead grabbed a force, as if he had managed to grapple an individual with his fullbring, dragging it as his already in motion arm moved to defend himself against Maeve's attack, however, instead of all of the homing arrows successfully hitting him, a great resistance appeared in front of Masato as to his utter shock and confusion the arrows exploded before they hit him, their blast radius, while certainly hitting him they were substantially less powerful than they should have been, the sleeves of his Reiatsu being dispersed as the heat from the explosions burnt his arms. Masato grimaced just before using Bringer Light to escape the explosion and shoot towards Maeve, extending a semi-scorched arm towards her in an attempt to grab her "Reiatsu". Its him, she could feel something from Masato, his Reiatsu having encroached her own somehow, despite the obvious difference between the two. As if hit with a sudden clarity, she drew back the arrow that rested on her Fullbring causing it to undergo a quick mechanical transformation. In a matter of seconds the weapon had become a long spear and wasting no time, Maeve had already set her sights on her target. She knew what she needed to know, all that mattered now was taking them out of the fight. She could have told them to stop, to put their weapons away, but training as a Fullbringer was all about the punishment. It wasn't an infomercial in a padded cell, it was a messy half-explained training course in the middle of a jungle. She'd lunged forward at him, covering the distance between them in moments, though she had appeared distracted at first, herself realizing that she had seemingly slowed down. But she threw that to the wind just as it carried her to her intended destination. There was a whirr in the air as her spear spun, the back of its shaft, a blunt sided object, rushed forward intent on striking Masato's stomach. Masato, unable to stop his forward momentum and dodge the attack, was struck squarely in the stomach, flinging him back as he performed a backwards roll and recovered on one knee, clutching his lower torso in pain. "The hell was that?", Masato asked himself, clambering up to face Maeve, only to see Kumiko appear a small but fair distance away from Maeve. Kumiko brought back her whip and fired off another section of it as binding rope, using Bringer Light after firing it to move down towards the ground and speed towards Maeve, the rope she let loose shooting towards Maeve as she followed closely behind. With Masato having taken the force of a blow he couldn't rightly prepare for, Maeve was free to react to Kumiko's advance, she did so with nonchalance. A single angled thrust of that spear and though it hit nothing the whip bended, curving around the air itself as if reality denied any further encroachment on its surface. There was flashing crescent of green illuminating through the grass and with pulsing boom of the wind, Maeve appeared directly in front of Kumiko. Just as before the blunt side of the spear came down on the younger woman though this time it was aimed in a thrusting motion directly at Kumiko's forehead. Kumiko, ignoring the effect her distraction had on Maeve, managed to stay composed as the Fullbringer appeared suddenly before her. Kumiko read Maeve's movements, they were expert like and extremely quick, even without the use of Bringer Light Fujimoto could see that her opponent was far from a slouch physically, however her mind processed the straightforward spear attack, it was quick, but easily dodge-able. However as Kumiko shifted her body the the right in order to dodge it, she found herself being hit by the simple thrust and knocked a fair while backwards, managed to right herself a fair distance away while clutching her head in pain. "How? I could have swore I dodged it.", Kumiko said to herself. Masato, having recovered from the last attack that he had been dealt, once again used bringer light to rush at Maeve, as he reached her he moved past her side and spun around to face her. Extending his arms, Masato reached out to grab Maeve's right wrist while also preparing to throw his other arm under the armpit of Maeve's right arm . She had been caught though the technique was not so absolute that she had been unable to resist, only to find out that was entirely unnecessary. The fight drew to a close with the intervention of a third party. Hairs, numerous miniscule tendrils had snaked through the grass during the conflict, the struck like vipers and with the strength afforded to steel syringes pierces the flesh all across the young combatants, striking at acupuncture points in an attempt to shut them both down. As they slumped to the ground with paralysis, the perpetrator entered into the light of the moon shining down on them. "To have such trouble with these plebians, hah, I thought better of you Maeve", the man chided with each step he took, his golden hair shrunk in length as it blew in the breeze. Maeve regarded him with a neutral expression, she wasn't bothered by his jabs, particularly because all it did was feed his insane vanity. She focused on her opponents, her charges of a sort and went about removing them from the ground. One in each of her powerful arms. "This is such a waste of time, we already know they won't amount to anything, why go through the trouble?", Ewan questioned with a rhetorical twist, though Maeve refused to answer regardless. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, seemingly bested for now, the man followed her back towards the apartment. Category:Roleplay Category:Fanfiction